3.87/4.2 gpa, 7 dual enrollment at state flagship university + 5 aps
35 act
I will finish Multivariable calc and linear algebra by end of senior year
From an avg high school in a flyover state
Outstanding ECs (cs internship, project with postdoc, video game, founded club, state level musician, captain of sports team, volunteering)
Current college list(safeties not included):
UW Madison
Maybe Amherst?
Uiuc
Northwestern
Carleton
I want to go to a college with a good statistics program, preferably near an good size city(not the end of the world if it isn’t), with good teaching and student happiness. I plan on doing a masters degree.I feel as if my ECs are too cs focused so I might just apply as a CS major
Unless you want to be a CS major, don’t apply as one - it makes admission more challenging so if it isn’t what you want, why create extra hurdles for yourself? I think you have a good chance at Madison and UIUC if you are not applying for CS. The others will be reaches.
Congratulations on building a strong profile while in high school. Make sure you run the Net Price Calculators, especially at Northwestern and Carleton, to make sure they’re affordable.
I’m going to suggest a couple more schools for you to consider, under the assumption that Carleton and Northwestern are affordable for your family. Smaller schools can often offer smaller classes and more attention for undergrads, whereas at bigger schools students need to be more assertive about seeking the attention (though it’s happily given if students seek it out). Your math classes will probably be on the smaller side anyway since you’re so advanced in the subject, but when thinking about the other classes you take, it might be a consideration. Don’t forget to apply to honors colleges at bigger schools, as that can make a difference in terms of class sizes, priority registration, special advisers, etc.
Anyway, these are a few schools you may want to consider:
Emory (GA): About 7100 undergrads. This Atlanta school has a strong statistics program and is also part of a consortium where you can take classes at other schools (like Georgia Tech, Morehouse, etc).
Loyola Chicago (IL): About 12k undergrads. An easier admit than Northwestern, but might be a good fit and offers through a Master’s in Statistics, so there should be sufficient depth for you.
Southern Methodist (TX): About 7100 undergrads but offers through a PhD in statistics
CS is often a significantly more difficult major for acceptance compared to Mathematics.
Your ECs do not need to be math related in order to get accepted as a math or statistics major. Your ECs should be something that you are interested in doing, where you show the ability to stick with something over time and do it well. It could be archery or chess or cross country running or working as a cashier in a convenience store or playing a musical instrument or robotics or almost anything else. It would still be a good EC. Your list of ECs is very good. Math and Music are interests which many students have in common (I was a math major, play a couple of musical instruments, and have played in public without embarrassing myself).
Also, there is a very significant overlap between math and CS. If you are a math major, you are likely to end up with a job that requires math. So, what might you do that requires math? Quite likely something that involves equations, statistics, probability theory, computer simulations, linear algebra, algorithms, thousands if not tens of thousands of variables, and lots of numbers. Who is going to be doing all of the computations on these numbers? Computers. Having some computer knowledge is very valuable for a math major. MIT even has a major 18C “Mathematics with Computer Science” that combines the two. Statistics by the way almost by definition involves a lot of numbers, and therefore requires computers.
If you want to be a statistics major, then apply as a statistics (or math) major.
With a 3.87 unweighted GPA, as a potential statistics/math major, your chances might depend a bit on which classes were not A’s, and possibly even how high your A’s were in math classes. I doubt that a few B’s in language or history classes will hurt much at all.
I think that you are competitive at the schools that you have listed. Two concerns come up a lot in “chance me” threads: One is are your safeties really safeties and would you be okay with attending one of them? The other is whether you can afford the various schools on your list. Are you fine being full pay or have you run the NPCs?
I feel dumb for asking - but what is a “reverse” chance?
Looking expressly for colleges that will reject (as in: No chance)?
Having graduated college and asking where else they should have started as freshman instead (as in: reversing history)?
Students chancing frequent posters (as in: reversing roles)?